The most common complaints made against influencers to the ASA [Video]

A fifth (20%) of all complaints to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) last year concerned social media influencers.

The ASA’s annual report shows the body received 1,402 complaints concerning 1,134 advertisements in 2023, an increase of 18% from the previous year (1,189).

A total of 59 adverts were found in breach of the ASA’s Code of Standards for Advertising and Marketing Communications, and more than two-thirds (68%) of complaints concerned ads that were ‘misleading’, while 8% were believed to be ‘offensive’.

A total of 279 complaints concerned adverts from social media influences, and a third (95 or 34%) of them were received after the launch of the ASA and CCPC’s Joint Guidance on Influencer Marketing in October.

The overall number of complaints received regarding influencer marketing in 2023 represents an increase from 7% in 2022 (88) and 5% in 2021 (77).

The ASA introduced an anonymous social media influencer content complaints reporting form along with a reach-out programme to engage with influencers where multiple ad content notifications were …